


The Fantastic Adventures of Roni and Rain

by jacquelee



Series: Star Trek Voyager Without White Guys [9]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 16:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7625272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Voyager gets thrown into the 20's century and Veronica and Tuvok try to find out who send them a message, Rain and Veronica kick it off immediately and spend some really great time together on Earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fantastic Adventures of Roni and Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Rewrite of the Star Trek Voyager episodes Future's End Part I and II, with Paris replaced by Lieutenant Stadi, which means while the gist is the same, everything concerning Rain Robinson is different. 
> 
> Written for trekfemslashbigbang. This is a friendship/partners in crime fic, not a romance, since I am aroace and don't write romances, so I'm happy that this big bang is okay with all kinds of partnerships.

Knowing that this could be a long night, Rain ordered pizza and went out to get it right after she had e-mailed Lavon at JPL because she just couldn't keep this a secret. Little green men! Or women, whatever. No matter what Starling said, this was real. This was it, she felt it! 

When she came back to her office she was surprised because the door was open when she definitely knew that she had closed it before she had left. Looking inside carefully, she saw a guy with a scarf on his head that made him look like a poor impersonation of a pirate and a woman in kind of a weird mixture of business and leisure clothes standing at her desk. What the hell were they doing here? 

"Excuse me? What are you doing here? This is for employees only! Do you see the sign on the door?" 

The looks of surprise mixed with guilt on the face of the woman and the complete void of emotion on the man's face made her mind go to a pretty specific place, so she added "You know this is a lab not a broom closet!" 

Neither of them reacted to that, but the woman seemed to have recovered from her initial shock. She smiled. 

"We were in the museum tour and must have gone the wrong way." 

"Maybe you could show us the way to the lobby?" 

Rain cocked her eyebrows. Yeah that's what happened here, obviously. She shrugged and walked over to her desk.

"Yeah, somehow I get the feeling you'll find it yourself. Good day to you." 

She purposefully turned away from them to save them more embarrassment, put the pizza box down on her desk, throwing the half eaten slice she had held in her hand on top of it and sat down to start her work again, giving the couple the chance to quietly slip out. 

A chance they didn't take. Instead, the woman approached her. 

"This lab, it's pretty cool. What do you do here?" 

What was this, did they want to bond now? No thanks. Whatever they had used her lab for, she didn't want any part in it. Still, politeness was probably better than anything else. 

"Thanks. We watch the sky." 

She said it with a pretty clear undertone of, you know, polite conversation is not needed, you can just get out. 

But the woman didn't take the hint. On the contrary, instead of leaving the lab, she approached the desk further and even when Rain turned to her computer and started typing she didn't back off. The guy also came towards her. Okay, this was getting a little weird now. 

"Really? For what?" 

"Signs of extraterrestrial life. Nice meeting you!" 

Now that was the furthest she was willing to go with being polite. If they didn't take the hint she would have to be more direct. 

"That sounds really interesting. Maybe you could show us a bit of your work?" 

The woman was now standing pretty much directly behind her while the man had hung back a little bit but was also far too close to comfort.

"You know what, I-"

"Hey, that's a Fourier Spectral Analysis, isn't it?" 

Now Rain looked at the woman in surprise. Maybe she needed to change her assessment of the situation. 

"Indeed it is." 

"You know, you might get better resolution if you adjust your amplitude parameters." 

Cocking her eyebrows again but this time in respect, Rain typed some things into the computer. 

"You know, I think you're right." 

"Or you could try using a theta band filter."

Rain was impressed. She noticed the man going over to her other side but now she saw it as professional interest. These people were clearly scientists. 

"You're astronomers too?" 

Now the woman seemed to withdraw a little bit but only for a second, then she smiled warmly.

"Kind of. I'm actually a pilot but I took some courses in astrophysics." 

"Really? Where?" 

Again, the tiniest hint of hesitation.

"Uh, Harvard?"

It sounded more like a question than a confirmation, but Rain didn't notice that much, being too impressed by that answer. 

"Really?" Rain was aware that she was repeating herself but she couldn't help it. "Wow, that's something. I never met a woman who got into astrophysics at Harvard. You must be really good. I only got into Caltech" 

Now the woman seemed to be a little embarrassed. 

"Well, I don't know about that, I'm sure you're good too. I was just lucky I guess." 

Rain scoffed.

"What, that's what the guys say, right? About affirmative action and how that's the only reason the likes of us could ever get anywhere and nonsense like that. All the while I'm sure you had better grades than all of them. It's what they say right, as a woman you have to work doubly hard-"

"To be considered half as good. Yes, I know. Believe me." 

They both laughed. Then Rain realized that she didn't even know the woman's name and that despite their brief interaction, she actually started to be interested. She held out her hand.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Rain Robinson." 

Again, the woman seemed to hesitate but then took her hand.

"Veronica Stadi." 

Rain looked back to where the man was standing to include him in the conversation, albeit reluctantly. She was quick enough to see him put some gadget in his pants. He then raised an eyebrow and looked past her to his… whatever she was. A colleague possibly, since even though she had been certain they were a couple when she first saw them in her lab, now it didn't seem like they had a very intimate relationship. 

He did not at all addressor even acknowledge Rain's questioning look or her outstretched hand and instead looked only at Veronica.

"We need to go. Our friends are waiting for us." 

That seemed to shake Veronica, who straightened and smiled a little, even though it seemed sad. 

"Right. We need to go." 

With what seemed to be an apologetic glance from Veronica, they made their way to the door. 

Not willing to give up the chance to talk to another woman who understood what it was like to be a woman in science, Rain got up too and went a little after them while wrecking her brain to find an excuse to see her again.

"Hey, you know what, I would love to give you a full tour of the lab. Actually talk about the stuff and everything, you know?" 

She smiled brightly and a little nervously. She didn't really know what she was doing, just that she didn't want to let this opportunity slip through her fingers. 

Veronica smiled. 

"That sounds great, but I'm afraid I can't. Sorry." 

With that, they left. 

"Okay. Whatever." 

A little disappointed, Rain returned to her desk. Time to put her attention back to where it should be at the moment. The UFO or whatever it was. She took the keyboard and had barely began typing when her monitor completely crashed and only showed undecipherable numerals and then a skull and crossbones. Fatal error. 

That gadget in the guy's pocket! She looked at the door. Okay, very clearly her enthusiasm about having a woman to talk to about science had been premature. For some reason she felt betrayed, even when she had known Veronica, if that was even her name, for only a few minutes. 

Right after thinking that she reached the conclusion that she wouldn't let them get away with it. Nope. What did they think they were, that they could just steal her data and go? Not with her, no. 

She grabbed her backpack with her phone, keys and wallet and ran to the front door and outside. There she saw them, nearly having reached their car. 

"Hey! Hey Veronica!" 

She yelled it at the top of her lungs. Not that they seemed to care, on the contrary, they only went faster, but she got to them before they could get into the car. Veronica was getting in the driver's seat when she reached her. 

"What the hell did you do to my computer? It's trash, completely gone. The hard drive is wiped."

She didn't even pay attention to whatever Veronica was trying to say, if anything, and went to the other side of the car. 

"What is that thing in your pants? Huh? Some kind of demagnetizer? What did you do back there?" 

Then everything happened very fast. Veronica screamed "get down!", the guy grabbed Rain's arm and forced her down on her knees and the car that had been standing behind her vanished in a flash of light. 

"What the hell?"

"Do you have a car?" 

That was Veronica asking, while the guy had whipped out some sort of laser pistol and was shooting at another guy who had clearly been trying to kill her. Or them. Or everyone, Rain wasn't that sure at the moment. What did Veronica want? Oh, right, car. She pointed to her van. 

"Yeah, there." 

"We will need to use it."

The guy still held his pistol ready to fire again but stated this in about the calmest voice Rain could imagine, which made this entire situation even more bizarre than it already was. 

"Oh?" 

That was all she managed before the guy took her by the arm and hauled her up and while her legs seemed to not particularly want to work, she still managed to run over to Veronica who had already started towards her van. Then another, whatever it was, laser or whatever, shot past them, causing her to look back just in time to see the guy lose his scarf which revealed really weird long and pointy ears. 

But this became quickly irrelevant as Rain and Veronica now came up to the van. Rain fumbled in her backpack for the keys and thankfully found them quickly enough. She opened first both passenger doors and then ran over to open the driver's door and jumped into the driver's seat, starting the car. She was barely aware that Veronica had gotten into the back of the car instead of onto the passenger seat.

"Can you drive up to Tuvok so that we can get him?" 

For a second Rain looked at Veronica, puzzled. 

"Who?" 

She gestured to the man who was now picking up his scarf. 

"Oh, yeah, right. Yes, I can." 

Driving up to where the man was crouching, Rain looked into the mirror to see that Veronica hauled him into the compartment in what seemed like a bone breaking maneuver. 

"You all good back there?" 

"Yes. Thank you." 

Rain tried to collect her thoughts while still driving at a speed that was fast approaching dangerous. She took a few deep breaths and deliberately slowed down. No sense in killing them all in a car accident now.

"Yeah, no problem. Thank you for saving my life. I think." 

"Of course." 

For a few moments nobody said anything. Rain looked into the rear view mirror again and saw that her two "passengers" were holding up little devices and examined them critically, looking at each other in a way that seemed to indicate that they were talking without actually using words. For some reason that infuriated her. How dare they leave her out of a conversation that directly affected her? 

Then she realized that she just took for granted that they were, what, telepaths? But her life was spinning out of control so fast, this was just a tiny little detail in a world that was suddenly filled with UFO's, laser pistols and pulverized cars. What was a few telepaths to top it all off? 

Okay, she needed to find out what the hell was going on here! 

"Hey, could you talk out loud? You know I'm here, right? And I'm the driver, so you should include me on that count alone. Where do you want me to drop you off for that matter? Cause I'm going home." 

Veronica leaned over from the back seat while the guy, Tuvok, also leaned forward but less. It was Tuvok who spoke first. 

"I would advice against returning to your place of residence. Your life might be in danger." 

Rain scoffed. 

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed, you know. What with all those guys shooting at me." 

"Look, I am very sorry that you have been dragged into all of this. That had not been our intention. But that guy cannot have been there for us, so he was there for you. I agree with Tuvok, it would be safer for you to not go home. And probably also to stay with us." 

"Great, but you know what, I don't even know who you are. What you are. Like, are you aliens or something? What's up with your ears? And what's with the silent conversations?" 

Rain looked in the mirror again just in time to catch exactly what she was talking about.

"That! Those looks! What are you, telepaths? Aliens? Is that your UFO up in orbit?" 

"Miss Robinson, we-" 

"No, no, no, no, don't even come with any excuses, like what, it's a secret NASA mission or something? Or do you want to get creative and say it's a weather balloon? I'm not buying it." 

For a few moments there was silence. Rain didn't know what more to say. She still hadn't fully comprehended everything that was going on. And apparently Veronica and Tuvok didn't know what to say either. But then Veronica leaned over again and pointed at the road.

"Where are we going? Right now I mean?" 

"You know what, I have absolutely no idea. Someone's shooting at me, I don't generally plan my route first." 

Now Veronica grinned. And for some reason, Rain also had the urge to laugh. This was ridiculous. 

"It's getting dark fast. Is there a place with a lot of people where we can spend the night safe from being shot at? Whoever the people wanting to kill us are, they won't try anything in a crowd, I'm sure. Like a park or something?" Rain looked back briefly, careful not to lose sight of the street. She still hadn't decided what to do. Another look back and she saw Veronica smiling at her. "Look, I am not going to say that you can trust us because that makes no sense. But we are your only option right now. Other than that guy who tried to vaporize you." 

Well, put that way, Rain had to agree. 

"Okay. I know a place." She indicated Tuvok over her shoulder, "but he's gonna have to sleep outside. I'm not having a guy sleep in my van." 

Veronica laughed a little and Tuvok raised his eyebrows, which Rain noticed to be his signature move. 

"I assure you, your… van is safe from me." 

Rain scoffed. 

"Ha, yeah, sure." 

Again a few moments passed in silence. Rain tried to get her bearings towards the Metro Plaza, the only place she could think of with lots of people even in the night. 

"But since we're gonna hang together apparently, one rule, right. No reading my mind. That's private in here. Clear?" 

"Nobody indicated that we-" 

Veronica interrupted Tuvok. 

"Yes. No reading minds. Promise." 

"Wait, because you can't or because you won't?" Instead of answering, Veronica just smiled. "Right. Gotta keep some secrets. Why tell the gal who is saving your butts? I mean that guy did fire on you too, you know, no matter what he was there for." 

Another silent conversation clearly visible in the mirror. This was becoming a little unnerving. 

"I wish we could tell you, but we can't. It would be putting not only you but a lot of other people in even more risk than they already are. I hope you can understand that." 

For some strange reason, Rain did believe her. Or wanted to believe her. So she didn't say anything but just shrugged and smiled a little, because despite herself, she started to actually like this woman. 

When they got to Metro Plaza, Rain parked the van smack in the middle where the most people were. Protection by numbers sounded good to her, whatever was going on, and even though it was completely dark now, the park was still abuzz with life. 

Both Tuvok and Veronica got out of the van and Rain followed suit a little slower. She had kind of decided that they were on her side but that didn't mean she wasn't still careful. 

When she had rounded the van, Tuvok had wandered off a little, for whatever reasons, but Veronica was standing by the van door, smiling. 

"Again, I'm really sorry you got dragged into all of this. To be honest, we don't really know what to do. We're kind of out of our depths here. But it's getting late so we agreed that we will need to spend the night here and decide tomorrow morning what can be done." 

Rain shrugged again. Sounded like a plan. 

"Like I said, no guys sleeping in my van. You're welcome if you stay out of my brain and promise not to, you know, murder me in my sleep." 

Veronica laughed. 

"I promise. But Tuvok is going to want to stay guard outside the van anyways and I can join him, no problem. Or I can stay on the front seat." 

Rain considered that for a few moments. It did feel a little weird to share her van with a woman she didn't even know and who might or might not be an alien. But then, she had genuinely seemed interested in astrophysics and she seemed to be someone who was easy to talk to, or would be if there weren't guys with guns chasing them. 

"Nah, it's okay." Then another thought crossed her mind. "You know, I've never spend the night in my van with someone else." 

I've always wanted to though. She added that part mentally but did not say it out loud. It didn't really seem appropriate. 

"I will strive to be worthy of that honor." 

They smiled at each other and then Rain climbed into the van to show Veronica what was what and to prepare for the night. Her guest seemed most impressed by the mechanics that easily let her fold the seats into a bed. 

"Voila! There you go! Easy peasy." 

They laughed together, but sadly before Rain could show Veronica more things, they were interrupted by Tuvok who had come back and inquired as to if they wanted to get food. 

"Yeah, I left the pizza in the lab, what a waste. But whatever, I think there are some food trucks in the park, we can go together." 

"Food trucks?" 

Both Veronica and Tuvok seemed completely oblivious to what that meant. Rain rolled her eyes. 

"Okay, if you want to pass for Americans, or you know, humans, you need to know what a food truck is. Come on!" 

She lead them towards the trucks where still quite a few people stood in line to get burritos and hot dogs. Having to explain to both of them what exactly a hot dog and a burrito was convinced Rain even more that they were aliens. As did the fact that while Veronica did seem to know what money was and even had quite a lot of it, both seemed very inexperienced in handling it, to say the least. 

But she also reminded herself that probably quite a few people didn't know things like that, so no reason to jump to conclusions. 

When they got back to the van, a little surprise was waiting for them in the form of a traffic cop who was just about to write them a ticket. Rain sped up. 

"Hey, hey! We were just gone to get food! We're right here!" 

"Don't care. Can't park here when leaving your vehicle. Don't know the rules, don't park here at all." 

Rain was inclined to just let it go and pay the fine but for some reason, Tuvok jumped in. 

"This is illogical. We were never out of eyesight of the vehicle. This fine is not justified." 

The cop just raised an eyebrow, which nearly made Rain laugh out loud. Seemed that Tuvok had found an equal opponent. 

"Right. But you know, my logic is, I didn't see you, you weren't there, you get a ticket. Got it?" 

With that, she ripped the ticket off of the block and Rain, knowing when a battle was lost, moved in to take it. But Tuvok didn't seem to be inclined to let go. 

"Your logic is flawed." 

"Is it? Why don't you tell me all about it?" 

Tuvok didn't seem to be able to hear the sarcasm or see that the cop was close to giving them an even bigger fine for disturbing the peace or whatever. He clearly was about to give a big lecture on logic. 

Time for some damage control. Rain laughed loud and fake and moved in between him and the cop, taking the ticket out of the cop's hand. 

"Let's not keep this nice cop from her important duty, shall we? Thank you very much, officer, we'll be sure not to do it again." 

"Hmmhmm." 

It seemed the cop had more of an ability to spot sarcasm but thankfully she seemed to decide it was not worth it and just shook her head and went away without saying anything more. 

Rain turned to Tuvok. 

"Lesson one, never engage traffic cops. It's not worth it." 

Tuvok raised his eyebrows. 

"Her logic was flawed. I might have succeeded in convincing her to spare you." 

"Nope. Not possible. Sorry mate. Traffic cops and logic don't mix." 

She shrugged and laughed a little at Tuvok's confused expression. 

"Welcome to Earth I guess. You still gotta learn a lot." 

Now both Tuvok and Veronica looked at her with slightly worried expressions. 

"Hey, it was a joke, okay? Come on, let's eat." 

After Rain had explained how to eat burritos and hot dogs, the meal went on relatively quiet. Rain got more and more eager to spend some time with Veronica away from Tuvok. Nothing against the guy, especially since he had just saved her life, but he was far too serious. She had to admit he creeped her out a little. And not just because he was very likely an alien. 

For what it was worth, Veronica was probably an alien too, even though she lacked the weird ears, and Rain still liked her much better. At least she smiled. And actually talked to her not just looked at her judgingly all the time as Tuvok did. 

After they finished the food, Rain showed the two the toilets and washrooms. When they came back to the van, Tuvok announced that he would stay outside and watch, even though Rain told him that wasn't necessary. Veronica just shrugged. 

Turning to the van and thinking about how to prepare for the night, Rain first climbed into the van, which was definitely big enough for two people and comfortable enough to sleep in, something she had done quite a few times, but now that she was actually about to spend the night in it with another person it seemed to have gotten smaller. 

She knew she could always take her invitation back and tell Veronica to stay outside with Tuvok or stay on the front seat. But to be honest, she didn't want to. No matter how small the space was, she still looked forward to spending more time alone in it with this fascinating person she had just met. 

After Veronica also got into the van, with surprisingly little difficulty, Rain turned on the camping light she always kept there and closed the door. Then she crouched on the side of the bed adjacent to the luggage compartment where her stuff was, while Veronica sat down cross legged closer to the front of the van.

There was a bit of a nervous silence, but then Rain decided to just give Veronica sort of a tour to her van. Not that that would take long, but still. Thankfully she was always prepared to have to spend the night here, since oftentimes she spent so much time in the observatory that it didn't make any sense anymore to go home and sleeping in her lab was not a great idea, she had found that out the hard way pretty quickly. 

"Okay, so, this is where I keep the stuff. Like blankets and spare clothes, a toothbrush, stuff like that." 

She looked at Veronica who nodded. Rain couldn't see her face very well in the dim light, but she seemed to smile. 

"I always keep a spare blanket, just in case, you know? Here." 

After taking the blankets out, she handed one to Veronica.

"In case of what?" 

"Well, you know, in case someone tries to kill me and I need to spend the night in here with an alien." 

Raising her eyebrows cheekily she expected Veronica to laugh but instead the other woman frowned. 

"Look, about the alien thing, I-" 

"Let me guess, you have a rule for not telling unsuspecting humans that you're actually aliens? And I'm breaking it right now meaning you'll get gruesomely punished?" 

Now Veronica smiled a little bit at least. 

"Something like that, yes. It's our prime directive, actually." 

"Whoa, seriously? Like, as in if you break it your dead or something like that? The gruesome punishment thing was a joke you know…" 

Rain started to get worried but thankfully, now Veronica actually laughed. It was a really cute and infectious laugh that made Rain want to join in. She grinned widely and then also laughed. After a moment Veronica stopped laughing but still smiled at her. 

"Not like that, no. No gruesome punishments, don't worry. But we do take it seriously." 

"But you didn't tell me anything. I found it out myself, shouldn't there be a loophole for that? Like, I'm sure I'm not the first one to find out." The thought occurred to her that she very well could be and she looked at Veronica wide eyed. "Or am I?" 

Veronica laughed again, but quickly became serious. 

"No. But in that case we are to minimize contact and leave as quickly as possible." 

"And you can't leave because you can't contact… whatever you have in orbit. Your ship? And you can't just leave me here because you have nowhere else to go and I might be in danger, which I'm guessing you're not supposed to do, right, endangering humans?" 

"Let's say we can't leave right now and don't know where to go and wouldn't leave you alone in this mess anyways, yes." 

"But, I guess staying with me in here means you're breaking the rule even more? Since you could minimize contact by staying out there with Tuvok and would still protect me just as well." 

Now she looked at Veronica with a cheeky smile and wriggled her eyebrows, which got her another laugh. 

"I guess it does." She cocked her head to the side. "Funny, I actually never broke that particular rule before." 

"Really? Wait, but you did break others?" 

"Oh yes. Broke a man's nose once." 

"Really?" 

Rain told herself that she really needed to stop saying that word all the time but it was hard to find another one to express what she was thinking.

"He was a sexist asshole, so I thought that particular rule was worth breaking." 

Now Rain was the one laughing. 

"I hear you. Probably would have done the same." For a moment, they just sat and smiled at each other. Then Rain had a thought. "So, it's not different where you're from? Males are assholes everywhere?" 

"Well, actually in that case it was a human, so…" 

"Right. You do know some humans?" 

"Yes. Some of my best friends are humans." This was said so solemnly that Rain laughed out loud, earning a puzzled look from Veronica. "What is funny about that?"

Rain waved her hand.

"It's that saying, you know. 'Oh, a lot of my friends are black'. Like what you say when someone says you're racist. I guess in your case you'd have to say some of your friends are white and then it doesn't work at all. I mean people still say it but as a joke to make fun of those who say it in earnest." 

Veronica frowned a little again. 

"I did not know that. Interesting. Obviously I've come across the concept of race and racism in my studies of human history. It was really pervasive, wasn't it? Or is, for that matter." 

Rain shrugged and nodded. 

"I guess. I mean, I'm Jewish, so I do know something about that, but it's still different when you're black or Latina or Asian. Nuances, you know?" 

From the puzzled look on her face, Veronica didn't know and Rain realized that this was all pretty complicated, so she just shrugged and left it there. Veronica cocked her head to the side again.

"Well, if you go by that measure, I would say some of my friends are what you would call white. But thinking about it, I don't think any are both white and human. Unless you count the Captain." 

Not wanting to remark on Veronica's apparent willingness to break that 'no talking to humans about alien stuff' rule even further now that she had bend it already, Rain shrugged again.

"I don't know if you can count a Captain. I mean, they're the one giving orders I assume? But I guess they could still be a friend."

Veronica shrugged too. 

"Probably. I don't know. I guess I would call her a friend but, well, I don't know. It's complicated, you know?" 

"Not really, no." Rain grimaced and Veronica shrugged again. "But hey, if your Captain was out, that would mean, if I was white, then I could be your first." 

Now Veronica looked puzzled. 

"First what?" 

Rain gave her a look that was supposed to be cheeky. She wasn't sure she succeeded in that. 

"First friend who's both a human and white. Not that I want to be white, got through that phase already, but yeah." 

She wiggled her eyebrows again and Veronica laughed. 

"Yes, I guess you would be. But hey, you are my first friend who's both human and Jewish, so there's that." 

"Oh. Okay. Yep, I'll take it. Nice!" 

They laughed together and Rain felt like even though it was said light heartedly as a joke, the core of it was that they were fast becoming friends. Which felt really good. 

For some reason that was the moment when Rain became aware that the air in the tiny van was getting pretty ripe and leaned up to open the hatch. When she got back down, she noticed Veronica looking at her pretty intensely and remembered something. 

"So what's with the telepathy thing? I trust you not to read my mind but you could, right?" 

Veronica seemed a little reluctant to talk about it but apparently she realized that she had already broken that rule sufficiently and now could just go on.

"Yes, I am a telepath. All my people are. But I don't use it. Most Beta- most of my people use it freely but I have lived among… non telepaths long enough to not want to do that. I consider it a break of privacy and abusive to read someone's mind without permission." 

"That's a relief." 

Veronica laughed. 

"I can imagine. In emergency situations like this one I do sometimes project thoughts when necessary and I always keep open for thoughts directly aimed at me, but that is all." For a few moments, they were silent. Rain thought about how it would be to have a friend with whom she could talk just in her head. It would kind of be cool. Like, you could have injokes and all that. Eventually, Veronica spoke up again. "We should probably sleep. Tomorrow we need to try and get this all sorted out." 

"Don't even get me started on that. I don't even know if I have a job still. What do you do when your employer wants to kill you?" 

Now Veronica looked surprised. 

"What do you mean? You know who that man was?" 

"No, not him but nobody but Starling knew about that thing, your ship in orbit and he practically begged me not to tell anyone and an hour after I sent an e-mail to a friend about it, the guy with the laser pistol showed up, so yeah, I'd say it was him. Not to mention that he was the one who told me how to look for those emissions that led me to find you in the first place." 

Veronica seemed to have to think about that for a while. Rain took the time to lay down and put the blanket over herself, Veronica following suit. When she finally talked, they both were lying down, face to face. 

"Again, I am so sorry you got involved in all of this." 

Rain smiled a little. 

"Hey, who doesn't like some adventure. I'll be fine, don't worry." 

"I'm not worried. Anyone who made it as an astronomer in this world, and knows that to be part of the boy's club all you need to do is to put posters of b-movies with half naked women on the walls, knows how to take care of themselves." 

Now Rain laughed, a little taken aback but also impressed. 

"You noticed that, huh?" 

"Of course. How not?" 

"I guess misogyny is misogyny no matter which planet you come from." The mention of her lab made Rain remember something. "But I guess you never actually went to Harvard, right?" 

"No. Sorry again. I don't like lying but it was the first thing I could think of." 

"Is that what you study when it comes to humanity? Elite universities and b-movies?" 

Veronica laughed. 

"Yes, basically. That and cars." 

"Cars?" 

"Oh yes. I could probably drive this one. I've always been interested in everything that drives, swims or flies." 

"That is really cool. So you are a pilot, that was the truth?" 

"Yes. I am a pilot." 

"A starship pilot. Wow." Rain didn't wait for confirmation. She knew she was pushing her luck as it was with talking about these things. But there was one thing she needed to know. "Ever been to Saturn?" 

"Saturn? Why?" 

"I've always wanted to go to Saturn. Ever since I was little. We had this telescope, it was really shoddy, but it was enough. Enough to see the rings of Saturn. I remember they looked like jewels in a pirate's treasure. And ever since then I just wanted to reach up and touch them. That's why I became an astronomer. I thought it would bring me closer to that dream." 

There was silence after that. Rain had turned off the camp light and now in the darkness could hardly make out Veronica's features. She even wondered for a little moment if the other woman had fallen asleep. 

"Yes." 

"What?" 

"Yes, I have been to Saturn. Never touched the rings though. Now I wish I had." 

They smiled at each other. For some reason it felt like they shared something special. It wasn't like Rain hadn't ever talked about that memory with anyone, everyone always wanted to know why she became an astronomer, but this felt different. This was someone who could not only relate but also so much more. Someone who had seen what she only ever dreamt about. 

"Maybe you still can. If you want to I mean." 

"I will certainly try. And when I do I will think of you." 

Rain smiled and when Veronica put her hand next to her in a clear invitation, she took it. It felt good. 

"We should really sleep." 

Veronica nodded and smiled, or Rain guessed she smiled from what little she could see of her face.

"Yes. Goodnight, Rain Robinson." 

"Goodnight, Veronica Stadi." 

With that, she reluctantly let go of the other woman's hand and turned onto her back, to her preferred sleeping position. She heard Veronica turn around too. Then she had a thought and turned back. 

"Does everyone call you Veronica? Or something else like Vera or Roni?" 

Veronica had turned back too. She seemed to hesitate for a moment. 

"I never thought about that. I like Veronica, always have." Another short hesitation. "But Roni sounds really nice too. I wouldn't mind it if you want to call me that." 

"I would like that. Rain and Roni. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" 

"Roni and Rain sounds even better." 

"Nah. Earthlings first." 

They both laughed at that and then turned again and actually went silent. Despite all the excitement, Rain fell asleep surprisingly quickly. It felt weirdly safe, lying here in her van next to this woman, or rather alien, she felt like she knew forever even though she had just met her. 

The next morning, Rain was woken up by someone touching her shoulder gently and saying her name. For a moment she was confused as to why she was lying in her van, but then she remembered and smiled. 

"Hey." 

"Hey yourself. Sorry, you can sleep some more, I was just wondering if I could utilize the electronic device in the front of your car to try and send a message to our friends." 

"What?" 

Rain tried to wake up completely, puzzled by what Veronica, no, she corrected herself, Roni, was saying. Electronic device? 

"You mean my car radio? What do you want to do with it?" 

"I don't know yet. But I think I might be able to use it as an amplifier for the communicators we have." 

"Okay." She shrugged, still not really awake. "Knock yourself out." 

Now it was Roni's turn to look puzzled. 

"What?" 

Rain laughed. 

"It's an expression. It means have fun." 

"Oh. Right. I will. Oh, and can I take this pin too?"

She showed Rain a hairpin that she had probably found somewhere in the van. Rain knew she always left those lying around everywhere. She nodded and Roni smiled and moved to get out of the van. 

For some reason, as she did, it felt like she would lean in and hug her or touch her shoulder and to be perfectly honest, Rain wouldn't have minded that one bit. But instead, she just went by and left the van. Leaving Rain alone wondering when she had started thinking about hugging. 

Somehow, between last night and now, she had gotten quite attached to the idea of Roni being around. But she suppressed that thought, knowing that there was about a snowball's chance in hell that Roni could stay here. She had made it quite clear that as soon as there was a chance to go, she would have to go. 

Pity though. It was so rare to find someone she felt so comfortable with immediately and could talk to about everything. Wasn't it just her luck that when she finally found someone like that, it was an alien? 

With that thought, she fell asleep again. When she woke up the next time, the van was still empty. She changed into her spare clothes and went outside, seeing Roni sitting at the picnic table doing something to her radio. 

"Does it work?" 

Roni looked up and smiled at her. 

"I honestly don't think so. It's too crude." 

Looking around, Rain noticed the distinct absence of Roni's companion. Not that she minded, but she still wanted to know where he was.

"Where's Tuvok?" 

"He went to get some breakfast." 

"He did? Well, let's hope he actually gets something edible." 

"I am quite capable of procuring food, Miss Robinson." 

Turning around to that voice, Rain beamed, not even slightly ashamed. 

"Mister Tuvok! Let's see what you brought. Oh, just the same as yesterday. But some Goliath Gulps to spill it down with, nice. I see you got the hang of Earth cuisine." 

Tuvok raised his eyebrows in a manner that was clearly disapproving and Rain laughed and shared a knowing look with Roni. 

While they were eating, the conversation mainly revolved around the radio and Roni's failed attempt to try and contact their friends. When they were discussing other ways of getting in contact with them, Roni and Tuvok came up with the idea of using the radio dish at the observatory. 

While Rain was a little worried about going back to where she had gotten shot at just a day earlier, Roni made a good point that people generally did not expect people to go back to places where they would be expected the most, so they should be reasonably safe. 

But to be even more on the safe side, they parked the van a little further from the observatory than Rain normally would and walked the rest of the way, as well as going through the back door and trying to avoid anyone on their way to Rain's lab. 

There Tuvok worked on sending the signal while Rain eagerly took the opportunity to show Roni her lab, which she was quite proud of. Roni picked up the book with b-movie posters which was lying on her desk. 

"So you do like them? Or is this also for show?" 

"Nah, I do like them for some reason. I know they're really bad, especially when it comes to women, but, you know?" 

"If you would avoid everything that treats women badly or has wrong messages, you wouldn't be able to consume any media. Like I said, I studied human culture."

Rain beamed at her. She hadn't expected this. 

"Yeah. That. You want to look at them?" 

"Why not? Actually, I think I've watched one or two of these." 

"Really?" 

"I am quite thorough when it comes to studying other cultures." 

"B-movies are considered a part of human culture?" 

"Shouldn't they?" 

Rain laughed and shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably they should." 

They ended up sitting on her sofa, laughing and talking. It had been a long time since Rain felt so relaxed and comfortable in anyone's presence. 

Sadly, Tuvok interrupted them far too soon, asking for her help in apprehending Starling, who apparently possessed something he shouldn't have. Rain agreed to help them and they decided together that Metro Plaza was a good place to meet someone who might or might not want to kill them. She didn't really understand what they were going to do but all she had to do was to call Starling and tell him to get her and then get him into her van. 

Sounded relatively easy, right? Still, Rain was nervous, and after the phone call she didn't quite trust that she actually got Starling to swallow the lies she had told him about being scared and wanting to be picked up by him personally. 

"I don't know if he bought it. His voice sounded suspicious." 

Roni smiled at her, which made her feel better. 

"It's going to be okay. As long as he comes and gets into the van, we're good. You did awesome, thank you so much." 

Now Rain smiled too. 

"Of course. Gotta help aliens in need, right?" 

Roni laughed and Rain joined in, even more when Tuvok scowled at them. 

"We need to hide out of sight when he comes. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. Yes. How hard can it be?" 

It turned out to be harder than she imagined, since Starling was in the company of a bald guy in some kind of leisure suit that was the worst outfit Rain had ever seen. Starling, who clearly suspected heavily that she was working with Roni and Tuvok, seemed to think that the leisure suit guy would get some reaction from them, which Rain hoped it wouldn't. 

Apparently it didn't, since they stayed hidden, but Starling then outright refused to come to her van and she didn't dare to seem too adamant to get him there and instead agreed to come to his car. 

He grabbed her elbow and she wanted to run away right then and there, but she reminded herself that Roni was right there looking after her and would come for her if she was in danger. Not really knowing what she was doing, Rain thought "car not van", a few times, and tried to direct the thought towards where she knew Roni was, hoping that would alert them towards the change of plans quicker than just seeing her and Starling moving. 

But she had no way of knowing if she actually succeeded in sending the thought. Which made her conclude that this telepathy thing was harder than she had thought. 

And then she saw the guy who had shot at her standing by Starling's car, which made her hesitate, but when Starling told her that the guy had only tried to protect her (yeah, likely story), she pretended to go along with it and went into rear of the car together with Starling while the shooting guy and the really badly dressed guy went into the front. Rain only hoped that Roni and Tuvok would come up with something to get her out. 

Apparently they did, even though it wasn't what she was expecting. Starling disappeared. Literally. Whoosh, one moment he was there and the other he wasn't. Rain screamed in shock and didn't need the leisure suit guy telling her to run to know that that was the best course of action. 

Running into vaguely the direction Roni and Tuvok were hiding, she tried to calm down. Leisure suit came after her and then finally there was Roni with Tuvok, telling them that the plan worked. 

Rain smiled. 

"Told you I could do it." 

"Yes you did. And you were awesome. Got your thought, which gave us enough time to recalibrate our sensors." 

Rain beamed. Well, apparently telepathy worked, even though it was confusing not to know if a thought actually got where it was supposed to go. 

"Hey, next time, I'll give you permission to send me a confirmative or something, right? Just so I know it worked." 

"Next time?" 

Rain laughed. But as much as it had been a joke, she had enjoyed this little spy adventure. Even though the disappearing Starling had been weird and scary. 

She decided to leave any questions about that until later and they went back to her van to check out Chronowerx, Starling's company. 

When she did ask the question about Starling just disappearing into thin air, the enquiry was cut short by Tuvok getting a call on the cell phone she had lend Roni and him to contact… well, their ship, very likely. After the call he informed Roni and herself that he and Mister Leisure Suit had to make their way to Arizona. 

Rain didn't mind being alone with Roni again for a while, who had asked her if she could drive her to Chronowerx, which Rain obviously agreed to, just to spend some more time with her. Still, after the guys were gone, there was a bit of an awkward silence at first, because Rain didn't know how best to start a conversation now that it seemed like the goodbye was coming soon.

"So, you'll go back to your space ship soon, right?" Roni just smiled at her without answering. "Look, I know you're not allowed to, like, hang with humans, but I already know about you, so, if you'd like, I have time tomorrow." 

"I don't-" 

Rain just ploughed on, not willing to let it go. 

"Or on the weekend. Or, you know, whenever. You must get some time off from piloting spaceships. Or I could come with you. I told you I always loved the stars. I would love to see them up close." 

Now Roni just looked at her sadly and Rain knew she should not get her hopes up. Roni didn't say anything more and Rain also stayed silent. When they got to Chronowerx, there was again an awkward moment because they both knew this was goodbye but didn't know what to say. 

Rain felt an inexplicable sadness at something so precious as the friendship they had formed being ripped away. And looking into Roni's face, Rain could see that she was also saddened by it. 

"So, I guess this is it? This is were you, like, woosh up and disappear into space?" 

"I am so sorry. I wish I could-" 

Something beeped in Roni's pants. She took out an electronic gadget and pointed it at a truck that had just come out of Chronowerx. 

"Tachyon emissions. They're moving the timeship!" 

"Timeship? What?" 

Roni looked at her with a mix of puzzlement and eagerness.

"Seems like I'm hanging around a little longer. You wouldn't mind spending some more time together would you?" 

Rain's confusion gave way to a big grin. She knew that the goodbye was only prolonged but right now, she didn't care. The more time they could spend together, the better.

When they got back into the van, Roni contacted whomever with the cell phone that Tuvok had left them, saying they were following the timeship, whatever that was. 

After that, Rain decided to struck up a conversation, newly determined after that near-goodbye to make every second in Roni's company count. 

"So, tell me more about you. I know you're a pilot and like studying other cultures, but I don't know anything else. Like, what else do you like to spend your time with?" Roni looked at her a little puzzled. "Hey, I know you're gonna go back to wherever you're going soon. I just want to get to know you as much as possible, you know? So that I can remember you." 

"I don't think I could forget you anyways." 

"No, me neither. But still." 

For a moment, Roni seemed to contemplate that. Then she apparently reached a decision. 

"Music. I like music. And books. Not necessarily human books though but some of them are definitely interesting. You?" 

"I like music too. Mostly rock and pop. What kind of music do you like?" 

"I don't think it's really explainable. It's a sort of, mix of what you would call, I guess classical music and pop? Or rock? I can't really describe it." 

"Sounds interesting. I'm not big into classical music but like I said pop and rock are awesome. Hey, we could go to a festival together if that sort of thing is your…" 

She trailed off, realizing that there was about zero chance they would even see each other again after today. Maybe talking hadn't been such a good idea. 

But Roni seemed to still think it was, since she just talked on. 

"I've been to a few music festivals. Well, what you would call music festival anyways. I loved them. It is always great to enjoy things you love in the company of like minded people, isn't it?" 

Rain had recovered and was thankful for this prompt. 

"Yes it is. Or it should be. When you don't get robbed by some of those supposedly like minded people that is." 

"What?" 

"Yeah, happened to me. Last summer. They broke into my van and stole my guitar. Can you believe it? My guitar of all things!" 

"They did? That sounds mean." 

"Mean indeed. But they didn't even touch the clothes or other stuff, so there was at least that. I think they were mainly pissed that they didn't get a bigger haul because they stole my license plates too." Seeing Roni's puzzled look, she continued. "That's the car registration, in the front and at the back. Every car needs to have them. Took me weeks to get new ones. Rude." 

"Rude indeed."

They laughed together. They were now on a desert road and the truck was in front of them. Roni called her ship again and Rain talked to the woman who answered, presumably the captain, telling her that this road was empty and whoever was driving the truck already knew that they were followed. 

Apparently she had been right with that, because the truck driver was soon firing a laser at them, prompting Roni to shout a warning and Rain to turn the wheel so violently that the van swerved. She needed a few moments to get it back on track, but despite her knees being weak and her entire body flooded with adrenaline, she was fine. 

And so was Roni who now also got out her pistol and leaned out of the window. 

"Can you get closer?" 

"What?" 

"Closer to the truck so that I can shoot out the tyres." 

For a second, Rain looked at Roni incredulously, but then a wide grin spread on her face. More adventure. Well, that was what she had wanted, wasn't it? And now she got it. This wasn't exactly Saturn but she did have a cool alien at her side, so there was that. 

"I can try." She got as close to the truck as she dared. And being quite excited now, she exclaimed: "Shoot the bastard!" 

Roni gave her a little side glance that she answered with a smirk. Couldn't blame her for getting in the mood, right? 

Then Roni actually shot and the truck seemed to lose control for a few seconds and then disappeared over a hill. Rain stopped the van abruptly and then tried to restart it but it didn't work. Damn thing got flooded. She tried again and looked at Roni. 

"Did we get them?" 

"I don't know. Probably? I hope so." 

Rain still tried to get the van to work when Roni suddenly cried out and pointed at the road in front of them. Looking in that direction, Rain saw the truck coming over the hill, directly at them. 

"Oh my god!" 

"We need to get out!" 

They both jumped out of the van and ran to their respective side of the street, Rain hoping against hope that her van would be fine, but already seeing it smashed up all over the street. At least she wasn't in it. 

And then there was a hiss and a huge fireball exploded to the back and side of her, where seconds ago the truck had been driving. At first she didn't dare look but then her curiosity got the better of her and she turned around just in time to see a little… well, plane, or probably rather spaceship fly up from the now completely obliterated truck into the atmosphere. 

All she could do was look at it with her mouth open. She didn't even really notice that Roni came running towards her. 

"Are you okay?" 

"What?" She looked at Roni, incredulously. "That… that was a spaceship. Like, a real one. And it shot the truck as if it was nothing. And my van… is my van okay?" 

"I think it is." 

It indeed looked okay, standing just meters from the fire but not affected at all. It felt like a weird symbol for what had happened in her life since yesterday. Like a huge giant explosion that had ripped her life apart but had left no outward signs whatsoever. 

She was only dimly aware that Roni was talking to someone on the phone. 

"It's all true. All of it." 

Now Roni put the phone down and looked at her. 

"I'm sorry." 

Rain shook her head, still trying to clear up her thoughts.

"No, you have nothing to be sorry about. I'm just… I knew you're an alien and all that but to actually see your spaceship… Wow. Just, wow." 

Roni smiled wearily. 

"Good wow or bad wow?" 

"Good. Definitely good." 

There was another call on the phone, something about 'bringing her aboard'. 

"You're spaceship's waiting." 

"I know. I just… Are you going to be okay?" 

"Me? Of course! Aliens, explosions, timeships, all par for the course." 

She laughed but even to her, it sounded anything but confident. 

"I wish I could stay. Or take you with me, but…"

"But you need to get back and I think we both know me coming wherever you're going is a bad idea. I know." For a few moments, they just looked at each other, neither of them saying anything. Then Rain thought lightening the mood a little would be a good idea. "Hey, don't forget to touch those rings of Saturn for me." 

Roni smiled. 

"I won't." 

She took the phone out again, apparently ready to call them to disappear her like they had Starling, presumably, but Rain had the sudden urge to hug her and so she held up her hand and Roni stopped with the phone halfway to her ear, looking at her questioningly. 

"Umm, how do you… I mean… aliens, do they… hug?" 

She smiled a little, unsure of what to do next. But she didn't have to do anything. Roni seemed to need a little moment to comprehend what she meant, but then she smiled widely and dropped her arm with the phone to her side. 

"We do. Sometimes. When we like someone very much." 

"Do you? I mean, I like you and if you…" 

Roni seemed to understand what she meant, because she smiled and moved closer. 

"Yes. Yes, I like you too. If you want to…" 

"Yeah." 

It felt to Rain that both of them were putting everything they wanted to say but couldn't articulate in this hug. It was not a very intimate hug, but in some way it still felt more intimate than any other physical closeness she had had with anyone else. It was a goodbye, yes, but in a way, it was also a preserver of the memories that nobody could ever take away from her. 

She just wished it could have lasted longer, but all too soon, Roni withdrew and smiled at her sadly. Rain smiled back, aware that her smile was probably just as sad. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Then Rain held her hand up a little, as if to wave. 

"Goodbye." 

"Goodbye." 

After another little moment of just looking at each other, Roni seemed to remember the phone and told the ship to get her. Seconds later she vanished, still smiling at Rain. And for a few moments, Rain didn't move. She just stared at the spot where Roni had been. Then she slowly moved towards her van. 

While the expected tears did come, a huge grin also spread out over her face. Okay, this had happened. It truly had happened. 

Still grinning and wiping the tears away, she convinced the van to start and drove back to the city. And getting there, she knew everything would be the same, but she wouldn't be. It had only been one day, but that day had changed everything. 

***

Back in the right century and the wrong place, Veronica's first action when she got off duty was to check the computer for a specific astronomer who had lived in the 20th century. She wasn't sure about the dynamics of time travel and if the events she remembered clearly had even actually happened in the timeline they were in right now, but she nevertheless looked. 

What she found surprised her and after reading a little she first smiled and then actually laughed out loud. 

Rain Robinson, it turned out, had written a movie script and while it had taken her twenty years to get it made, eventually she did. The title of the movie was "Rain and Roni: The Fantastic Adventures of an Earth Girl and her Telepathic Time-traveling Companion From Saturn". 

Veronica watched the movie, which was truly fascinating. This wasn't at all how she remembered it, for one there were far more aliens that actually looked like aliens, or rather like humans in masks, but in some scenes, especially the goodbye, she did recognize herself. 

And when the dedication rolled on screen, she actually had tears in her eyes, though they gave way to a big grin quickly. 

"For Roni. I will always remember you. I hope you got to touch the rings for me. PS: you know you still have my hairpin, right?"


End file.
